CHAP. CXIII. CONIFERS. ABIETIJUM. 2133 



only in mild weather, when there are no drying winds, and, if possible, during 

 gentle rains. In the case of all the more tender species, the plants ought to 

 be surrounded by matting fixed to stakes, at a short distance from the ex- 

 tremities of the branches ; or, what is best of all, and serves at once as a 

 shelter from the sun, a protection from the wind, and a guard against cattle, a 

 cylinder of wickerwork ought to be placed round each plant. No pruning 

 ought to be given to the heads, and nothing should be cut from the roots, 

 but such of their extremities as are bruised. When the common Jbietinae, 

 such as the Scotch pine, the spruce, the larch, and the silver fir, are taken up 

 out of the nursery lines for transplanting, their roots should be immediately 

 plunged into a mixture of loam and water, so as to cover them with a coating 

 of mud ; and in that state they ought to be carried to the place of planting, 

 and carefully inserted in the soil with as little delay as possible. For want 

 of this precaution, a great proportion of evergreen vibietinae, of three or four 

 years' growth, perish when they are taken up, and carried to any distance ; 

 more especially if the weather, at the time of planting, should happen to be 

 dry. The ylbietinae are, of all trees, the least adapted for being sent to a 

 distance, unless in pots. After the yibietinae have been transplanted, and 

 become established in the soil, they require very little care for a number of 

 years, and, perhaps, less than trees of any other order. No care is requisite, 

 unless in particular cases, either to provide a leading shoot, or to prevent any 

 of the branches from coming in competition with the main trunk ; cares which 

 are always more or less attendant upon the culture and management of every 

 kind of broad-leaved tree. 



When plantations of Jbietinae are to be made on a large scale, the best 

 mode, in some cases, is, to sow the seeds where the plants are finally to remain, 

 either in drills, which appears the most scientific mode, as it will admit of regular 

 culture between the rows, or broadcast; and, where the surface is steep and 

 rocky, by sowing in irregular patches. There are many objections to sowing, 

 however, which generally render planting the most profitable mode. A great 

 quantity of seed is required, to provide for the ravages made by birds and 

 other vermin; and the labour of preparing the soil, if this is done properly, 

 is greater in proportion to the number of plants wanted, than in the case of 

 planting. There is also a certain loss of time ; since plants three years old, 

 which have been one year transplanted, will be at least three years in advance 

 of seedlings raised where they are to remain. On rocky steeps, however, where 

 there is little or no visible soil, and where the seed can only be deposited in 

 chinks and crevices, or sown on occasional patches of soil, this mode of 

 raising a wood of pines and firs may deservedly have the preference. 



Very little pruning is necessary for the pine and fir tribe, whether they are 

 grown singly or in scattered groups for ornament, or in masses for useful pur- 

 poses in plantations. In the former case, to remove any of the branches 

 would destroy the object in view; and in the latter, if the plantation is of 

 suitable thickness, the lower branches begin to die off of themselves, after the 

 trees have acquired a certain age and growth, and all that is necessary is to 

 assist nature, by cutting off the branches close to the trunk, the moment they 

 begin to show indications of decay. Some authors contend that no pruning 

 whatever ought to be given to the pine and fir tribe ; and that they ought to 

 be planted so close together, that the branches may rot off when they are 

 quite small, as the trees advance in height. This is, doubtless, the manner 

 in which the clean timber of the pine and fir forests of the north of Europe 

 is produced ; but it must be recollected that this timber is obtained at a great 

 expense of time ; for, if the trunk is deprived of so many of its side 

 branches, while it is small in diameter, the tree must require to stand many 

 years before the few branches composing its head can elaborate a sufficient 

 portion of sap to thicken the stem to a timber-like size. Some, on the other 

 hand, recommend depriving the trees of branches to two thirds of their height, 

 which must place them nearly in the situation of trees drawn up in their 

 natural forests. To us, there appears no reason for making the ^bietina; an 



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